Through The Slime and The Mud, I Came Out The Other Side
by 23-17-46-11
Summary: Going number by number we progress through J.C. Superstar getting the point of view of different people. I have added in an OC as a friend for Judas, the main point of the story is to explore how differently the story might have been for Judas if he'd had someone to talk to when all the other members of the 12 just ignored him and see what would have happened if he hadn't died.
1. Overture

**Through the Slime and the Mud, I Came Through the Otherside**

**Chapter 1 -** **Overture**

I had been on my own for a long time, some might think too long.

I never used to be alone. I had a nice sized family for the best part of my life but one day the Soldiers came into my father's business and told him he had until noon to pack up the shop and hand over the business to a Roman who had bought the land on which his business now stood.

My father had been a Fishmonger and my brother a Fisherman so naturally they ran the business together, they had built it up over a number of years and in a matter of seconds their livelihood had been snatched from beneath their feet.

I had a job on a fruit stall in the market nearby but there was no hope of that ever being enough of an income to support all three of us.

My mother had died many years previously and the only thing that had saved my father from the grief was his business. Once he lost the business it did not take long for him to give up both body and soul.

My brother left two weeks after the business was taken. He told father and I that he was old enough to be taking responsibility for himself and that his absence would make my role as 'breadwinner' easier with less people to provide for. I never saw him again, if he still lives then he lives believing father is alive also.

Then that was me. All alone.

I worked my fingers to the bone day in and day out.

I suppose it would have been easy to harbour resentment for the soldiers. Blame them for my fathers death and I think on some level I did. On the other hand I knew they had only been acting on orders and doing what any army anywhere would have done. They were here to occupy and were tasked with keeping the peace along with doing whatever necessary duties they had to. My father's business was just one of those 'necessary duties'. Maybe I just didn't want to blame them because then to blame someone for his death would be to admit he was dead which, in turn, left me to acknowledge my loneliness in the world.

Oh the times I almost gave up that job and wanted nothing more than to die myself but I never did and for that I will be forever grateful because one day a group of people came through the market chatting in a lively manner. They stopped at my stall.

The two men at the front of the crowd could not have been more different but they seemed like the best of friends.

One had a kind of ginger hair in dreadlocks and brown eyes, he carried a backpack and wore a jacket and scarf, t-shirt and jeans. His smile was genuine and beautiful.

The other had black hair, mussed up but in a way that made it look presentable. His eyes were blue and looked like they carried all the woes of the world hidden behind them. Beyond the large trench coat he wore I couldn't see much. He was clearly the leader in the group and something told me that the way the other man held himself around him meant he was his the right-hand man.

"What can I do for you today sir?" I asked him. I remember the exchange so clearly, it would change my life.

"Your eyes carry a great amount of sadness. Perhaps you would let _me _help _you_." He said and tilted his head a little. His eyes glistened with a concern I hadn't seen in such a long time that it would have been easy for me to forget it existed.

"I have known my fair share sir, but so will any of the others you see around you. Nothing can be done to change this." I told him as I had told countless others before him.

"I do beg to differ. My friends and I are on a mission to deliver the word of God. Let me help you and let us give you hope and perhaps in turn you will be able to do the same for another some day." He told me with a polite smile, "Please, do not call me 'sir'. Call me Jesus."

I knew the name of course, he was a preacher. Some were calling him the Messiah.

"Jesus, I accept your kind offer but I can not leave right away as there as some things I must do first. Will you wait by that tree over there for me please? I should not be too long." I said.

As soon as I had agreed I felt instantly happier and more hopeful, a new course for my life to take. I could not have wished for much more. I closed up the stall and asked the man on the stall next to mine to let Ruth know I would not be returning for work the next day. I left for home whereupon I packed a bag of clothes, food and water. Returning to the stall little more than twenty minutes later I looked all around to see that Jesus had indeed kept his word and waited by the tree.

Perhaps you know his story and how it ends but I would not have it any other way for many reasons but the main being that I truly had been saved that day and Jesus had been right, I was given the opportunity to save another.

My goodness! Where are my manners?

My name is Esther and this is the story of how I came to be saved and loved.

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_**So that is that! We have a prologue! Was it any good? **_

_**So a few things I want to say before I let you go off and do other things.**_

_**1) I am so sorry that I have been away for so long! I started college a while ago and since then it's really been non-stop 5 days a week. By the time I get home I am usually too tired to write anything or update anything, however I have grown used to the routine and hope to get back to writing and updating regularly for you guys!**_

_**2) I know that my last story kinda crashed and burned, I apologise for that. My muse upped and left with no intentions of returning. Since that was the case, I decided there was no point in keeping it so it has been deleted. I think part of the reason my muse ran away was because of the end of the summer and start of college so I was so busy getting started there and keeping up that my muse got fed up of waiting on me. Still, I've come back and I intend to stay this time!**_

_**3) So this point is more about what you can expect from this story and where the Plot-Bunny came from; See I've always loved J.C. Superstar and I recently went to see the Arena tour (WITH MY IDOL TIM MINCHIN REPRISING HIS ROLE AS JUDAS!) and in the scene where Judas commits suicide I thought to myself 'How differently would the story have gone if Judas hadn't done that but instead returned to the 12? What would have happened and how would that have affected Judas?'. So I set out to write a story with the intention of exploring that idea and realised that Judas would have to have a reason to live on after he betrayed Jesus so I came up with Esther. She will be his reason to live. **_

_**4) The idea is that it will be Esther's story of how she saved Judas without really even knowing it. It will take the POV of different people but Esther and/or Judas will be the center of the chapter. The chapters will be named after the titles of the songs in the show. The story will be written in first person and in the past tense.**_

_**5) I actually have to thank LollypopCherrypie who gave me the idea of giving Judas a friend with her story 'Telling The Truth'. I suppose she has become my muse really. That sounded less weird in my head... Anyway, Thank you LollypopCherrypie :)**_

_**6) Lastly, I am not expecting this to get many reads as it's not the largest fandom on the site but if you do happen to read and enjoy it please do leave a review as it does mean quite a lot to me to hear your thoughts.**_

**Thank you guys. bear with me, I have a good feeling about this one!**

**- 23-17-46-11 {Was: ThisAngelinHell}**


	2. Heaven On Their Minds

**Through The Slime and The Mud, I Came Out The Otherside.**

**Chapter 2 - Heaven On Their Minds**

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_Esther's POV_

It was strange, three years later sitting listening to Jesus towards the back of a mass gathering. Judas was away in the corner, he had been withdrawing himself a lot lately and I worried for him. Many of the twelve were already not exactly his closest friends but now they were beginning to shun him much like they might have done a Leper. I still maintain the belief that had it not been due to Jesus they would have had no problem with ostracising him completely.

You see I was his closest friend at the point, or at least I like to think I was. I hope I was because he really only had Jesus and I.

He and I would often sit up late, long after everyone else had gone to sleep. We would sit up in either his or my tent and talk about the day we had just put behind us, a sermon Jesus had given or something else and everything in between.

I knew how much he cared for Jesus and he would often tell me of how much he worried that Jesus was perhaps losing sight of what was important. I never liked to openly agree as I prefered to remain as open-minded as possible. However I was well aware of how the growing attention we were receiving was both a positive outcome and a negative one. On one hand it meant that the message was growing which could only mean that change would shortly be at hand. On the other hand the more wreckless of the fanatics and even some of the twelve were endangering the safety of us all. It was a catch 22; do we keep the faith and continue the work we do or do we run and let change slip away. No. We all took this on knowing the chances of martyrdom. I can say now that some regarded it not as a chance, but as an inevitability.

Well. Not some. Only one…

Like I said, you may well know the story.

What you ought to ask yourself is 'Do I know the whole story?'

Concerning Jesus? Perhaps so but I lay down my life on the bet you do not know all there is to know concerning Judas.

_Judas' POV_

Why can't he see the damage that he is letting them do? Like a fog has been lifted from in front of my eyes I can see what is happening and it cannot end well. They take his message but they use it for their own purposes, purposes that will not serve Jesus well to be associated with!

There he sits, preaching his message, but he does not care that they use it to suit a militant agenda. Well he knows I am sure that they twist his words so why does he do nothing to stop it?

As for the fools who do not twist his message? They are but sheep, following a dying cause and it scares me. We are all going to end up in a kind of trouble that no Sermon on love or forgiveness will let us escape the fate those in high places will have planned for us.

The mob will turn against him and he continues to sit pretty and talk incessantly to the very idiots that will be part of his downfall. He ignores it because he is too busy enjoying the attentions of Mary.

Over in a corner, looking on at all that is going on, sits the only one I have any respect left for anymore. Making my way over my fear and anger subsides.

"Esther." I greet her and smile, "Why do you not sit closer?"

"Why do you not sit at all?" She cleverly retorts, "I saw you over there pacing. You have been worrying again my friend. What bothers you on such a fine day?"

Something in my chest tightens and threatens to rip apart, I did not know what then. Such a fool I was being.

"You know how I care for him and you know how I worry for him. It scares me to see him enjoying the fawning masses when they do not take his words into their heart like they should but instead use them to fuel a mass revolution." I say softly

"Oh my dear, sweet Judas. I think you underestimate him. He knows what he is doing or else he would never have gotten this far, do you not agree?" Esthers says with a calming effect in her voice much like the effect Mary's oils would have on the strains of the mind.

I sigh deeply and nod, "Perhaps I do. I honestly hope that is what I am doing. You are wiser than you need be at your young age."

"While I accept the compliment I hasten to remind you that I am the same age as yourself. At 35 we are older than Jesus. Only by two years, but older nonetheless."

I can not say what I would have done in times like these if Esther had not been with us.

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**Hello! I've returned. My apologies for the delay with this chapter. I had quite a bit of difficulty writing Judas' POV so a review to let me know how you think I did would be most helpful.**

**Anywho, I will try my best to upload the next chapter as fast as possible! **

**Oh and just for good measure I ought to remind you that I own nothing you see here.. Well I kinda do but... uh... you get what I mean guys!**


	3. What's The Buzz?

**_Hello again my dear readers. So here we are in 2014! Hope everyone had a brilliant Christmas and a very merry start to the New Year. Personally, I was quite tipsy and busy looking after other drunk people. Oh what fun! So I am going to let you enjoy this new Chapter, hope I am still doing okay and I do encourage reviews telling me where you believe I may have gotten something wrong with the writing of Judas or even the snippet of Jesus. Thanks!_**

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**Through the Slime and the Mud, I Came Out the Otherside**

**Chapter 3 - What's The Buzz?**

Esther's POV

I sat there beside Judas and I truly wanted to believe that he agreed but it was the look in his eyes that gave him away. We were so different in our approach to the world. One thing was certain though, more and more I was beginning to see his point more clearly and bit by bit my eyes opened to the people around us.

They go on and on about wanting to know the next move and when we will be going into Jerusalem but each time they mention it a darkness overcomes Jesus' eyes. No one notices and if they do then they say nothing. I turn back to Judas and look up at him. He is concentrating on something else, he is a thousand miles away. Leaning in I wrap my arms around his waist and smile as he comes back to the here and now.

"What brings this on?" He asks me.

"You looked sad. Even a thousand miles away in the comfort of your own thoughts you cannot hide the sadness radiating from your eyes." I reply

"Trust me when I say that there are no comforts to be taken in my thoughts." He says and somewhat stiffly wraps his arms around me too. "So long as you are around though, I have some comfort in this world."

"Don't go getting all morbid on me now Judas Iscariot!" I chuckle and disentangle myself, subconsciously aware that we are being observed by other members of the Twelve.

"Do you remove yourself because we are being watched?" Judas whispers

"I- I remove myself because my intention was to bring you out of your thoughts and see that you were alright." My reply came shakily

"Then you are satisfied with the result I assume?"

I could really only nod because the words I wanted to say were sticking in my throat.

It didn't matter though because suddenly Judas' attention was caught by something else.

All of a sudden I wasn't even there, he rose up and walked away.

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Judas' POV

It would seem my feelings on the whole situation are mine and mine alone. Sitting by Esther only subdued my anger for a small period of time. I sat watching them all, they danced around him and praised him and begged him to tell them what he planned. Blind sheep. That is what they put me in mind of, blind sheep following a Shepherd that was slowly becoming incapable of keeping his herd from strolling off the path and wandering into trouble.

Jesus, to his credit, seemed to be trying to make them understand that the plans were not for them to know. Of course all his attempts failed and they continued to hound him. Long ago I had given up stressing over how they pressed him. My attempts to have them back off were clearly not wanted or needed for all I seemed to get was a glare from the Twelve or a quiet admonishment from Jesus, oftentimes saying such things as 'Do not be so worried my friend. They are merely excited, you must let them be as they let you be.'

No. What was currently on my mind was his determination to interact so intimately with Mary. This was sure to get noticed. Noticed and twisted. Why could he not just be careful?

My train of thought was derailed however when I felt arms snake around my waist. I held back the slight shiver of happiness I wanted to express when, coming back to the present moment, I saw who it was that now had their arms wrapped around me. Perhaps my smile said it all, or it would have done if I hadn't felt eyes on us from various points in the camp which held it back. Of course, the looks we got were few and far between. Most were still concentrating on Jesus.

While I did suppress the shiver and the smile I could not stop the actions that came as second nature. Even if I was nervous of the eyes around us. I returned the embrace a little less comfortably than I would have liked to.

Concern was laced in Esther's eyes. She knew. Knew that I was thinking about it all again. Considering possible ends to the scenario and weighing up options on what best to do.

All my options were terrifying and yet she tried to comfort me, telling me my thoughts would comfort me. Thoughts such as these would comfort no one.

Just as I was beginning to grow accustomed to her warmth and I was about to sink more comfortably into the embrace, onlookers be damned, Esther pulled away. She too had spotted the eyes watching us, her resolve had not held like mine was willing to.

I ask her if she parts due to prying eyes and she tells me something completely different. My skill when it comes to women was far from competent so I missed the shakiness that would have indicated a lie badly told.

All I knew was that she clearly believed her actions to have had the desired effect. In response my mind shut out all other thoughts on the matter and that was when I spotted something that changed my mood. I had been calm and I think perhaps I had even experienced a sort of serenity.

Now though, Mary filled my sight. She was again stepping outside of her place. She sat and began to wash his feet.

This had to be stopped, it had to be stopped in it's tracks before it could all spiral out of control.

Forgetting Esther beside me I rose to my feet and stormed across the camp.

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_**Hello again! So, thoughts? Leave me a review as some of you have been doing. It sounds corny I know but the more assurance I am given that you are enjoying this the faster I will be able to take up pen and write out the next chapter.**_

_**Quick note actually, you were supposed to get this on Christmas Day but I got caught up with the Doctor Who Christmas special (Which I was not impressed with.) The days following I was busy with family and towards New Year my uncle went into hospital. New Years Eve I was looking after drunks and the 1st was spent between sleeping and watching Sherlock (Which** **did impress me.). **_

_**So anyway, I plan to update as quickly as possible. **_

_**See you soon! **_


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